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Sephardic Judaism



 
 
Sephardic Judaism is the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi
Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews are a subgroup of Jews originating in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, usually defined in contrast to Ashkenazi or Mizrahi Jews....
 and Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews

Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahim, , also referred to as Adot HaMizrach are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazim
Ashkenazi Jews

File:Juden 1881.JPGAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish ethnic divisions of the Rhineland in the west of Germany....
. Sephardic Judaism does not constitute a separate denomination within Judaism, but rather a separate cultural tradition.

ardim are, primarily, the descendants of Jews from the Iberian peninsula.






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Sephardic Judaism is the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi
Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews are a subgroup of Jews originating in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, usually defined in contrast to Ashkenazi or Mizrahi Jews....
 and Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews

Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahim, , also referred to as Adot HaMizrach are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazim
Ashkenazi Jews

File:Juden 1881.JPGAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish ethnic divisions of the Rhineland in the west of Germany....
. Sephardic Judaism does not constitute a separate denomination within Judaism, but rather a separate cultural tradition.

Who are the Sephardim?

Sephardim are, primarily, the descendants of Jews from the Iberian peninsula. They may be divided into the families that left in the Expulsion of 1492
History of the Jews in Spain

Spanish Jews once constituted one of the largest and most prosperous Jewish communities under Muslim and Christian rule in Spain, before they were expelled in 1492....
 and those that remained as crypto-Jews and left in the following few centuries.

In religious parlance, and by many in modern Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
, the term is used in a broader sense to include all Jews of Ottoman or other Asian or African backgrounds, whether or not they have any historic link to Spain, though some prefer to distinguish between Sephardim proper and Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews

Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahim, , also referred to as Adot HaMizrach are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
.

For the purposes of this article there is no need to distinguish the two groups, as their religious practices are basically similar: whether or not they are "Spanish Jews" they are all "Jews of the Spanish rite". There are three reasons for this convergence, which are explored in more detail below.
  1. Both groups follow general Jewish law
    Halakha

    Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
     without those customs specific to the Ashkenazic tradition.
  2. The Spanish rite was an offshoot of the Babylonian-Arabic family of Jewish rites and retained a family resemblance to the other rites of that family.
  3. Following the expulsion the Spanish exiles took a leading role in the Jewish communities of Asia and Africa, who modified their rites to bring them still nearer to the Spanish standard.


Law

Jewish law is based on the Torah
Torah

The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
, as interpreted and supplemented by the Talmud
Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
: for a fuller account see Halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
. The Talmud in its final form dates from the Sassanian
Sassanid Empire

The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty is the name of the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire. It was one of the two main powers in Western Asia for a period of more than 400 years....
 period and was the product of a number of colleges
Talmudic Academies in Babylonia

The Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, also known as the Geonim Academies, were the center for Jewish scholarship and the development of Jewish law in Mesopotamia from roughly 589 CE to 1038 CE ....
 in Babylonia.

The Geonic period

The two principal colleges, Sura
Sura (city)

Sura was a city in the southern part of ancient Babylonia, located west of the Euphrates River. It was well-known for its agriculture produce, which included grapes, wheat, and barley....
 and Pumbedita
Pumbedita

Pumbedita was the name of a city in ancient Babylonia that was a major center of Talmud scholarship that, together with the city of Sura , gave rise to the Babylonian Talmud....
, survived well into the Islamic period. Their presidents, known as Geonim
Geonim

Geonim were the presidents of the two great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia of Sura and Pumbedita, in Babylonia, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority over the Jews in Islamic lands....
, together with the Exilarch
Exilarch

Exilarch refers to the leaders of the Diaspora Jewish community following the deportation of the population of Judah into Babylonian captivity after the destruction of the kingdom of Judah....
, were recognised by the Abbasid
Abbasid

The Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic Caliphates of the Islamic Empire. The Caliphate is one of the high points of Islam, and at the time Muslim civilization, together with that of Byzantium, China and India, was the most developed part of the world....
 Caliph
Caliph

The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah....
s as the supreme authority over the Jews of the Arab world. The Geonim provided written answers to questions on Jewish law from round the world, which were published in collections of Responsa
Responsa

Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them....
 and enjoyed high authority. The Geonim
Geonim

Geonim were the presidents of the two great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia of Sura and Pumbedita, in Babylonia, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority over the Jews in Islamic lands....
 also produced handbooks such as the Halachot Pesuqot by Yehudai Gaon
Yehudai Gaon

Yehudai ben Nahman or Yehudai Gaon was the head of the yeshiva in Sura from 757 to 761, during the Geonim period of Judaism. He was author of the book Halachot Pesukot, which discusses those halachah that were practiced in the Diaspora since the destruction of the Second Temple....
 and the Halachot Gedolot by Simeon Kayyara
Simeon Kayyara

Simeon Kayyara was a Jewish-Babylonian halakist of the first half of the 9th century. The early identification of his surname with "?ahirah," the Arabic language name of Cairo , was shown by J.L....
.

Spain

The learning of the Geonim was transmitted through the scholars of Kairouan
Kairouan

Kairouan it is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate. It was founded by the Arabs in around 670 and the original name was derived from Arabic kairuw?n, from Persian language K?rav?n, meaning "military/civilian camp" , "caravan", or "resting place" ....
, notably Chananel Ben Chushiel
Chananel Ben Chushiel

Chananel ben Chushiel or Hananel ben Hushiel was a Rabbi, talmudist and a student of one of the last Geonim. He is best known for his commentary on the Talmud....
 and Nissim Gaon
Nissim Ben Jacob

Nissim Ben Jacob was a rabbi and Talmudist best known today for his Talmudic commentary "HaMafteach", by which title he is also known....
, to Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
, where it was used by Isaac Alfasi
Isaac Alfasi

Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi - also Isaac HaCohen, Alfasi or the Rif - was a Talmudist and posek . He is best known for his work of halakha, the legal code Sefer Ha-halachot, considered the first fundamental work in Halakha#Codes of Jewish law....
 in his Sefer ha-Halachot (code of Jewish law), which took the form of an edited and abridged Talmud. This in turn formed the basis for the Mishneh Torah
Mishneh Torah

The Mishneh Torah , subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Chazaka , is a Legal code of Judaism religious law by one of the important Jewish authority Maimonides ....
 of Maimonides
Maimonides

Moses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Maimon , the Rambam, and Musa ibn Maymun , was born in C?rdoba, Spain, Spain on March 30, 1135, and died in Egypt on December 13, 1204.....
. A feature of these early Tunisian and Spanish schools was a willingness to make use of the Jerusalem Talmud
Jerusalem Talmud

The Jerusalem Talmud or Talmud Yerushalmi , often the Yerushalmi for short, is a collection of rabbi notes about the Jewish Oral law as detailed in the 2nd-century Mishnah....
 as well as the Babylonian.

Developments in France and Germany were somewhat different. They too respected the rulings of the Geonim
Geonim

Geonim were the presidents of the two great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia of Sura and Pumbedita, in Babylonia, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority over the Jews in Islamic lands....
, but also had strong local customs of their own. The Tosafists
Tosafot

The Tosafot or Tosafos are medi?val commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes....
 did their best to explain the Talmud
Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
 in a way consistent with these customs. A theory grew up that custom trumps law (see Minhag
Minhag

Minhag is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, Nusach , refers to the traditional order and form of the Jewish services....
): this had some Talmudic support, but was not nearly so prominent in Arabic countries as it was in Europe. Special books on Ashkenazic custom were written, for example by Yaakov Moelin. Further instances of Ashkenazic custom were contributed by the penitential manual of Elazar Rokeach
Elazar Rokeach

Eleazar ben Judah ben Kalonymus of Worms, Germany was a leading Talmudist and kabbalist, and the last major member of the Chassidei Ashkenaz , a group of Jewish German pietists....
 and some additional stringencies on she?hitah
Shechita

Shechita is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Kashrut. The act is performed by cutting the animal's throat by drawing a very sharp knife horizontally across it and allowing the Exsanguination....
 (the slaughter of animals) formulated in Jacob Weil
Jacob Weil

Jacob Weil was a German rabbi and Talmudist who flourished during the first half of the fifteenth century. Of his life no details are known, but, according to Heinrich Graetz, he died before 1456....
's Sefer She?hitot u-Bediqot.

The learning of the Tosafists, but not the literature on Ashkenazic customs as such, was imported into Spain by Asher ben Ye?hiel
Asher ben Jehiel

Asher ben Jehiel was an eminent rabbi and Talmudist best known for his abstract of Talmudic law. He is often referred to as Rabbenu Asher, ?our Rabbi Asher? or by the Hebrew language acronym for this title, the ROSH ....
, a German-born scholar who became chief rabbi of Toledo
Toledo, Spain

Toledo is a city and municipality located in central Spain, 70 km south of Madrid. It is the capital city of the province of Toledo and of the autonomous communities of Spain of Castile-La Mancha....
 and the author of the Hilchot ha-Rosh - an elaborate Talmudic commentary, which became the third of the great Spanish authorities after Alfasi and Maimonides. A more popular résumé, known as the Arba'ah Turim
Arba'ah Turim

Arba'ah Turim , often called simply the Tur, is an important Halakha Halakha#Codes_of_Jewish_law, composed by Jacob ben Asher . The four-part structure of the Tur and its division into chapters were adopted by the later code Shulchan Aruch....
, was written by his son, Jacob ben Asher
Jacob ben Asher

Rabbi Jacob ben Asher, in Hebrew language Ya'akov ben Asher, was born in Cologne, Germany in about 1269 and died in Toledo, Spain in about 1343....
, though he did not agree with his father on all points.

The Tosafot were also used by the scholars of the Catalonian school, such as Nahmanides
Nahmanides

Nahmanides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Nachman , was a Catalonia rabbi, philosophy, physician, Kabbalah, and Jewish commentaries on the Bible....
 and Solomon ben Adret, who were also noted for their interest in Kabbalah
Kabbalah

Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mysticism aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings that are meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator deity with the finite and mortal universe of His creation....
. For a while, Spain was divided between the schools: in Catalonia the rulings of Nahmanides and ben Adret were accepted, in Castile those of the Asher family and in Valencia those of Maimonides. (Maimonides' rulings were also accepted in most of the Arab world, especially Yemen
Yemenite Jews

Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen , on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. Virtually the entire Jewish population emigrated from Yemen between June 1949 and September 1950 in what was deemed Operation Magic Carpet ....
, Egypt
History of the Jews in Egypt

Egyptian Jews constitute perhaps the oldest Jewish community outside Israel in the world. While no exact census exists, the Jewish population of Egypt was estimated at fewer than a hundred in 2004,...
 and the Land of Israel
Land of Israel

For other uses, see Israel The Land of Israel is the region which, according to the Hebrew Bible, was promised by God to the descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac and to the Israelites, descendants of Jacob, Abraham's grandson....
.)

After the expulsion

Following the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, Jewish law was codified by Joseph Caro
Yosef Karo

Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Caro, or Qaro, was author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, which is still authoritative for Orthodox Jewry....
 in his Bet Yosef, which took the form of a commentary on the Arba'ah Turim, and Shul?han Aruch
Shulchan Aruch

The Shulchan Aruch is a codification, or written manual, of halacha , composed by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the 16th century. Together with its commentaries, it is considered the most authoritative compilation of halakha since the Talmud....
, which presented the same results in the form of a practical abridgement. He consulted most of the authorities available to him, but generally arrived at a practical decision by following the majority among the three great Spanish authorities, Alfasi, Maimonides and Asher ben Ye?hiel. He did not consciously intend to exclude non-Sephardi authorities, but considered that the Ashkenazi school, so far as it had anything to contribute on general Jewish law as opposed to purely Ashkenazi custom, was adequately represented by Asher. However, since Alfasi and Maimonides generally agree, the overall result was overwhelmingly Sephardi in flavour, and the Bet Yosef is today accepted by Sephardim as the leading authority in Jewish law, subject to minor variants drawn from the rulings of later rabbis accepted in particular communities.

The Polish rabbi Moses Isserles
Moses Isserles

Moses Isserles , was an eminent Ashkenazic Rabbi, Talmudist, and Posek, renowned for his fundamental work of Halakha , entitled HaMapah , an inline commentary on the Shulkhan Aruch ....
, while acknowledging the merits of the Shul?han Aruch, felt that it did not do justice to Ashkenazi scholarship and practice. He accordingly composed a series of glosses setting out all respects in which Ashkenazi practice differs, and the composite work is today accepted as the leading work on Ashkenazi halachah. Isserles felt free to differ from Caro on particular points of law, but in principle he accepted Caro's view that the Sephardic practice set out in the Shul?han Aruch represents standard Jewish law while the Ashkenazi practice is essentially a local custom.

So far, then, it is meaningless to speak of "Sephardic custom": all that is meant is Jewish law without the particular customs of the Ashkenazim. For this reason, the law accepted by other non-Ashkenazi communities, such as the Italian
Italian Jews

Italian Jews can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in Italy or in a narrower sense to mean the ancient community who use the Italian rite, as distinct from newer arrivals who use the Sephardi or Ashkenazi rite....
 and Yemenite Jews
Yemenite Jews

Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen , on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. Virtually the entire Jewish population emigrated from Yemen between June 1949 and September 1950 in what was deemed Operation Magic Carpet ....
, is basically the same as that of the Sephardim. There are of course customs peculiar to particular countries or communities within the Sephardic world, such as Syria
Syrian Jews

Syrian Jews derive their origin from two groups: those who inhabited the region of today's Syria from the History of Ancient Israel and Judah and those Sephardim who fled to Syria after the Alhambra decree ....
 and Morocco
History of the Jews in Morocco

Morocco Jews constitute an ancient community. Before the founding of Israel in 1948, there were about 250,000 Jews in the country, but fewer than 7,000 or so remain....
.

An important body of customs grew up in the Kabbalistic
Kabbalah

Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mysticism aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings that are meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator deity with the finite and mortal universe of His creation....
 circle of Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria

Rabbi Isaac Luria was a Judaism mystic in Safed. His name today is attached to all of the mystic thought in the town of Safed in 16th century Ottoman Palestine....
 and his followers in Safed
Safed

Safed is a city in the North District of Israel of Israel and a center for Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism. At an elevation of 800 meters above sea level, Safed is the highest city in the Galilee....
, and many of these have spread to communities throughout the Sephardi world: this is discussed further in the Liturgy section below. In some cases they are accepted by Greek and Turkish Sephardim and Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews

Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahim, , also referred to as Adot HaMizrach are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
 but not by Western communities such as the Spanish and Portuguese Jews
Spanish and Portuguese Jews

Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Judaism communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on....
. These are customs in the true sense: in the list of usages below
Sephardic Judaism

Sephardic Judaism is the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazi Jews....
 they are distinguished by an L sign .

Liturgy


Origins

For the outline and early history of the Jewish liturgy, see the articles on Siddur
Siddur

A siddur is a Judaism prayer book, containing a set order of List of Jewish prayers and blessings. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as we know it today has developed....
 and Jewish services
Jewish services

Jewish services are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
. At an early stage, a distinction was established between the Babylonian ritual and that used in Palestine, as these were the two main centres of religious authority: there is no complete text of the Palestinian rite, though some fragments have been found in the Cairo Geniza
Cairo Geniza

The Cairo Geniza is an accumulation of almost 200,000 Judaism manuscripts that were found in the genizah or store room of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat, presently Old Cairo, Egypt, the Basatin cemetery east of Old Cairo, and a number of old documents that were bought in Cairo in the later 19th century....
h.

Some scholars maintain that Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews

File:Juden 1881.JPGAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish ethnic divisions of the Rhineland in the west of Germany....
 are inheritors of the religious traditions of the great Babylonian Jewish academies
Talmudic Academies in Babylonia

The Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, also known as the Geonim Academies, were the center for Jewish scholarship and the development of Jewish law in Mesopotamia from roughly 589 CE to 1038 CE ....
, and that Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews are a subgroup of Jews originating in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, usually defined in contrast to Ashkenazi or Mizrahi Jews....
 are descendants of those who originally followed the Judaean or Galilaean Jewish religious traditions. Others, such as Zunz, maintain precisely the opposite. To put the matter into perspective it must be emphasized that all Jewish liturgies in use in the world today are in substance Babylonian, with a small number of Palestinian usages incorporated piecemeal: in a list of differences preserved from the time of the Geonim
Geonim

Geonim were the presidents of the two great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia of Sura and Pumbedita, in Babylonia, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority over the Jews in Islamic lands....
, most of the usages recorded as Palestinian are now obsolete. (In the list of usages below
Sephardic Judaism

Sephardic Judaism is the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazi Jews....
, Sephardic usages inherited from Palestine are marked P, and instances where the Sephardic usage conforms to the Babylonian while the Ashkenazic usage is Palestinian are marked B.) By the twelfth century, as a result of the efforts of Babylonian leaders such as Yehudai Gaon
Yehudai Gaon

Yehudai ben Nahman or Yehudai Gaon was the head of the yeshiva in Sura from 757 to 761, during the Geonim period of Judaism. He was author of the book Halachot Pesukot, which discusses those halachah that were practiced in the Diaspora since the destruction of the Second Temple....
 and Pirqoi ben Baboi, the communities of Palestine, and Diaspora communities such as Kairouan
Kairouan

Kairouan it is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate. It was founded by the Arabs in around 670 and the original name was derived from Arabic kairuw?n, from Persian language K?rav?n, meaning "military/civilian camp" , "caravan", or "resting place" ....
 which had historically followed Palestinian usages, had adopted Babylonian rulings in most respects, and Babylonian authority was accepted by Jews throughout the Arabic-speaking world.

Early texts of the liturgy which have been preserved include, in chronological order, those of Amram Gaon
Amram Gaon

Amram Gaon was a famous Geonim or head of the Jewish Talmud Talmudic Academies in Babylonia of Sura in the 9th century. He was the author of many Responsa, but his chief work was liturgy....
, Saadia Gaon
Saadia Gaon

Rabbi Se`adiah ben Yosef Gaon , , was a prominent rabbi, Jew philosopher, and exegete of the Geonim period.He is known for his works on Hebrew language, Halakha, and Jewish philosophy....
, Shelomoh ben Natan of Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa

Sijilmasa was a mediaeval trade centre in the western Maghreb. The ruins of the city lie in the Tafilalt oasis near the modern small town of Rissani in southeastern Morocco....
 (in Morocco) and Maimonides
Maimonides

Moses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Maimon , the Rambam, and Musa ibn Maymun , was born in C?rdoba, Spain, Spain on March 30, 1135, and died in Egypt on December 13, 1204.....
. All of these were based on the legal rulings of the Geonim
Geonim

Geonim were the presidents of the two great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia of Sura and Pumbedita, in Babylonia, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority over the Jews in Islamic lands....
 but show a recognisable evolution towards the current Sephardi text. The liturgy in use in Moorish Spain should therefore be regarded as an importation of the North African branch of the Babylonian-Arabic family, akin to those then used in Egypt and Morocco. Following the Reconquista
Reconquista

The Reconquista was a period of 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula succeeded in retaking the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims....
, the specifically Spanish liturgy was commented on by David Abudarham
David Abudraham

David ben Josef ben David Abudraham or Abudarham was a Rishonim who lived at Seville, Spain, and who was known for his commentary on the Synagogue liturgy....
, and other treatises, such as the Sefer ha-Manhig by Rabbi Abraham bar Nathan ha-Yarhi, discuss the differences between it and related traditions such as that of Provence.

Post-expulsion

After the expulsion from Spain, the Sephardim took their liturgy with them to countries throughout the Arab and Ottoman
Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
 world, where they soon assumed positions of rabbinic and communal leadership. They formed their own communities, often maintaining differences based on their places of origin in the Iberian peninsula. In Salonica
Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki , Thessalonica, or Salonica is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country in Greece and the capital of Macedonia , the nation's largest Regions of Greece....
, for instance, there were more than twenty synagogues, each using the rite of a different locality in Spain or Portugal (as well as one Romaniot
Romaniotes

The Romaniotes are a Jewish population who have lived in the territory of today's Greece and neighboring areas with large Greek populations for more than 2,000 years....
 and one Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews

File:Juden 1881.JPGAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish ethnic divisions of the Rhineland in the west of Germany....
 synagogue).

In a process lasting from the sixteenth through the nineteenth century, the native Jewish communities of most Arab and Ottoman countries adapted their pre-existing liturgies, many of which already had a family resemblance with the Sephardic, to follow the Spanish rite in as many respects as possible. Some reasons for this are:
  1. The Spanish exiles were regarded as an elite and supplied many of the Chief Rabbis to the countries in which they settled, so that the Spanish rite tended to be favoured over any previous native rite;
  2. The invention of printing meant that Siddur
    Siddur

    A siddur is a Judaism prayer book, containing a set order of List of Jewish prayers and blessings. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as we know it today has developed....
    im were printed in bulk, usually in Italy, so that a congregation wanting books generally had to opt for a standard "Sephardi" or "Ashkenazi" text: this led to the obsolescence of many historic local rites, such as the Provençal rite;
  3. R. Joseph Caro
    Yosef Karo

    Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Caro, or Qaro, was author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, which is still authoritative for Orthodox Jewry....
    's Shul?han Aruch
    Shulchan Aruch

    The Shulchan Aruch is a codification, or written manual, of halacha , composed by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the 16th century. Together with its commentaries, it is considered the most authoritative compilation of halakha since the Talmud....
     presupposes a "Castilian rite" at every point, so that that version of the Spanish rite had the prestige of being "according to the opinion of Maran";
  4. The Hakham Bashi
    Hakham Bashi

    Hakham Bashi is the Turkish name for the Chief rabbi of the nation's Jewish community....
     of Constantinople
    Istanbul

    Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, List of metropolitan areas in Europe by population, and List of cities proper by population in the world with a population of 12.6 million....
     was the constitutional head of all the Jews of the Ottoman Empire
    Ottoman Empire

    The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
    , further encouraging uniformity. The North Africans in particular were influenced by Greek and Turkish models of Jewish practice and cultural behaviour: for this reason many of them to this day pray according to a rite known as "minhag Hida" (the custom of Chaim Joseph David Azulai
    Chaim Joseph David Azulai

    Rabbi Chaim Joseph David ben Isaac Zerachia Azulai , commonly known as the Chida , was a rabbinical scholar and a noted bibliophile, who pioneered the history of Jewish religious writings....
    ).
  5. The influence of Isaac Luria
    Isaac Luria

    Rabbi Isaac Luria was a Judaism mystic in Safed. His name today is attached to all of the mystic thought in the town of Safed in 16th century Ottoman Palestine....
    's Kabbalah
    Kabbalah

    Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mysticism aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings that are meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator deity with the finite and mortal universe of His creation....
    , see the next section.


Lurianic Kabbalah

The most important theological, as opposed to practical, motive for harmonization was the Kabbalistic
Kabbalah

Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mysticism aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings that are meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator deity with the finite and mortal universe of His creation....
 teachings of Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria

Rabbi Isaac Luria was a Judaism mystic in Safed. His name today is attached to all of the mystic thought in the town of Safed in 16th century Ottoman Palestine....
 and ?Hayim Vital
Hayyim ben Joseph Vital

Hayyim ben Joseph Vital was a foremost exponent of Kabbalah....
. Luria himself always maintained that it was the duty of every Jew to abide by his ancestral tradition, so that his prayers should reach the gate in Heaven appropriate to his tribal identity. However he devised a system of usages for his own followers, which were recorded by Vital in his Sha'ar ha-Kavvanot in the form of comments on the Venice edition of the Spanish and Portuguese prayer book. The theory then grew up that this composite Sephardic rite was of special spiritual potency and reached a "thirteenth gate" in Heaven for those who did not know their tribe: prayer in this form could therefore be offered in complete confidence by everyone.

Further Kabbalistic embellishments were recorded in later rabbinic works such as the eighteenth century ?Hemdat Yamim (anonymous, but sometimes attributed to Nathan of Gaza
Nathan of Gaza

Nathan Benjamin ben Elisha ha-Levi Ghazzati or Nathan of Gaza was a theologian, born in Jerusalem, who became famous as a prophet for the alleged messiah, Sabbatai Zevi....
). The most elaborate version of these is contained in the Siddur
Siddur

A siddur is a Judaism prayer book, containing a set order of List of Jewish prayers and blessings. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as we know it today has developed....
 published by the eighteenth century Yemenite
Yemenite Jews

Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen , on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. Virtually the entire Jewish population emigrated from Yemen between June 1949 and September 1950 in what was deemed Operation Magic Carpet ....
 Kabbalist Shalom Sharabi
Shalom Sharabi

Sar Shalom Sharabi , also known as the Rashash, the Shemesh or Ribbi Shalom Mizra?i deyedi`a Sharabi , was a Yemenite Jews Rabbi, Halachist, Chazzan and Kabbalah....
 for the use of the Bet El yeshivah
Beit El Synagogue

The Beit El Synagogue , has been the center of kabbalistic study in Jerusalem for over 250 years.The yeshiva was founded in 1737 by Rabbi Gedaliah Hayon, originally from Constantinople, for the study of kabbalah in the Holy City....
 in Jerusalem: this contains only a few lines of text on each page, the rest being filled with intricate meditations on the letter combinations in the prayers. Other scholars commented on the liturgy from both a halachic
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
 and a kabbalistic
Kabbalah

Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mysticism aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings that are meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator deity with the finite and mortal universe of His creation....
 perspective, including ?Hayim Azulai
Chaim Joseph David Azulai

Rabbi Chaim Joseph David ben Isaac Zerachia Azulai , commonly known as the Chida , was a rabbinical scholar and a noted bibliophile, who pioneered the history of Jewish religious writings....
 and Hayim Palaggi
Hayim Palaggi

Hayim Palaggi or Palache was a Turkey rabbinical author; maternal grandson of Joseph ben Hayyim Hazan, author of Hikre Leb; pupil of Isaac Gategno, author of Bet Yitzhak....
.

The influence of the Lurianic-Sephardic rite extended even to countries outside the Ottoman sphere of influence such as Iran
Persian Jews

|||}Persian Jews or Iranian Jews are Jews historically associated Iran, which was known internationally as Persia until 1935.Judaism is one of the oldest religions practiced in Iran and dates back to the late biblical times....
, where there were no Spanish exiles. (The previous Iranian rite was based on the Siddur of Saadia Gaon
Siddur of Saadia Gaon

The Siddur of Saadia Gaon is the earliest surviving attempt to transcribe the weekly ritual of Judaism prayers for week-days, Sabbaths, and festivals ....
.) The main exceptions to this tendency were:
  • Yemen
    Yemenite Jews

    Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen , on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. Virtually the entire Jewish population emigrated from Yemen between June 1949 and September 1950 in what was deemed Operation Magic Carpet ....
    , where a conservative group called "Baladi" maintained their ancestral tradition based on the works of Maimonides
    Maimonides

    Moses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Maimon , the Rambam, and Musa ibn Maymun , was born in C?rdoba, Spain, Spain on March 30, 1135, and died in Egypt on December 13, 1204.....
     (and therefore do not regard themselves as Sephardi at all), and
  • the Spanish and Portuguese Jews
    Spanish and Portuguese Jews

    Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Judaism communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on....
     of Western countries, who adopted a certain number of Kabbalistic usages piecemeal in the seventeenth century but later abandoned them because it was felt that the Lurianic Kabbalah had contributed to the Shabbetai Tzvi
    Sabbatai Zevi

    Sabbatai Zevi, was a rabbi and Kabbalah who claimed to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah, and later converted to Islam. He was the founder of the Jewish Sabbateans movement and inspired the founding of a number of other similar sects, such as the D?nmeh in Turkey....
     disaster.


There were also Kabbalistic groups in the Ashkenazic world, which adopted the Lurianic-Sephardic ritual, on the theory of the thirteenth gate mentioned above. This accounts for the "Nusach Sefard
Nusach Sefard

Nusach Sefard is the name for various forms of the Jewish siddur, designed to reconcile Ashkenazi Minhag with the Kabbalah customs of the Isaac Luria....
" and "Nusach Ari
Nusach Ari

Nusach Ari means, in a general sense, any prayer rite following the usages of Rabbi Isaac Luria, the AriZal, in the 16th century, and, more particularly, the version of it used by Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic Judaism....
" in use among the Hasidim
Hasidic Judaism

Hasidic Judaism is a type of Orthodox Judaism or Haredi Judaism Orthodox Judaism religious movement. Some refer to Hasidic Judaism as Hasidism, and the adjective chasidic / hasidic applies....
, which is based on the Lurianic-Sephardic text with some Ashkenazi variations.

Nineteenth century


From the 1840s on a series of prayer-books were published in Livorno
Livorno

Livorno or Leghorn is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the Capital of the Province of Livorno and the third-largest port on the western coast of Italy, having a population of approximately 170,000 residents as of the year 2007....
, including Tefillat ha-?Hodesh, Bet Obed and Zechor le-Abraham. These included notes on practice and the Kabbalistic additions to the prayers, but not the meditations of Shalom Sharabi
Shalom Sharabi

Sar Shalom Sharabi , also known as the Rashash, the Shemesh or Ribbi Shalom Mizra?i deyedi`a Sharabi , was a Yemenite Jews Rabbi, Halachist, Chazzan and Kabbalah....
, as the books were designed for public congregational use. They quickly became standard in almost all Sephardic and Oriental communities, with any local variations being preserved only by oral tradition. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many more Sephardic prayer books were published in Vienna
Vienna

Vienna is the Capital of Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million...
. These were primarily aimed at the Judaeo-Spanish communities of the Balkans, Greece and Turkey, and therefore had rubrics in Ladino, but also had a wider distribution.

An important influence on Sephardic prayer and custom was the late nineteenth century Baghdadi rabbi known as the Ben Ish ?Hai
Ben Ish Chai

Yosef Chaim was a leading Hakham , posek on Jewish law and Master Kabbalah. He is best known as author of the work of Halakha Ben Ish Chai , by which title he is also known....
, whose work of that name contained both halachic rulings and observations on Kabbalistic custom based on his correspondence with Eliyahu Mani of the Bet El yeshivah
Beit El Synagogue

The Beit El Synagogue , has been the center of kabbalistic study in Jerusalem for over 250 years.The yeshiva was founded in 1737 by Rabbi Gedaliah Hayon, originally from Constantinople, for the study of kabbalah in the Holy City....
. These rulings and observations form the basis of the Baghdadi rite: both the text of the prayers and the accompanying usages differ in some respects from those of the Livorno editions. The rulings of the Ben Ish ?Hai have been accepted in several other Sephardic and Oriental communities, such as that of Jerba
Djerba

Djerba is, at 514 km?, the largest island off North Africa, located in the Gulf of Gabes off the coast of Tunisia....
.

Present day

In the Sephardic world today, in particular in Israel, there are many popular prayer-books containing this Baghdadi rite, and this is what is currently known as Minhag Edot ha-Mizra?h (the custom of the Oriental congregations). Other authorities, especially older rabbis from North Africa, reject these in favour of a more conservative Oriental-Sephardic text as found in the nineteenth century Livorno editions; and the Shami Yemenite
Yemenite Jews

Yemenite Jews are those Jews who live, or whose recent ancestors lived, in Yemen , on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. Virtually the entire Jewish population emigrated from Yemen between June 1949 and September 1950 in what was deemed Operation Magic Carpet ....
 and Syrian
Syrian Jews

Syrian Jews derive their origin from two groups: those who inhabited the region of today's Syria from the History of Ancient Israel and Judah and those Sephardim who fled to Syria after the Alhambra decree ....
 rites belong to this group. Others again, following R. Ovadia Yosef
Ovadia Yosef

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is a Sephardi Jews Haredi Judaism rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and recognized halakha authority. He is the former Sephardi Jews Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the current spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli Knesset....
, prefer a form shorn of some of the Kabbalistic additions and nearer to what would have been known to R. Joseph Caro, and seek to establish this as the standard "Israeli Sephardi" rite for use by all communities. The liturgy of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews
Spanish and Portuguese Jews

Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Judaism communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on....
 differs from all these (more than the Eastern groups differ from each other), as it represents an older form of the text, has far fewer Kabbalistic additions and reflects some Italian
Italian Jews

Italian Jews can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in Italy or in a narrower sense to mean the ancient community who use the Italian rite, as distinct from newer arrivals who use the Sephardi or Ashkenazi rite....
 influence. The differences between all these groups, however, exist at the level of detailed wording, for example the insertion or omission of a few extra passages: structurally, all Sephardic rites are very similar.

Instances of Sephardic usage


  • Sephardim do not put on tefillin
    Tefillin

    Tefillin, , also called phylacteries, are a pair of black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with bible verses. The hand-tefillin, or shel yad, is worn by Jews wrapped around the arm, hand and fingers, while the head-tefillin, or shel rosh, is placed above the forehead....
     during ?Hol ha-Moed (the middle days of festivals). L
  • They say only one blessing to cover the tefillin
    Tefillin

    Tefillin, , also called phylacteries, are a pair of black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with bible verses. The hand-tefillin, or shel yad, is worn by Jews wrapped around the arm, hand and fingers, while the head-tefillin, or shel rosh, is placed above the forehead....
     of the arm and the head, rather than one for each.
  • They wind the tefillin
    Tefillin

    Tefillin, , also called phylacteries, are a pair of black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with bible verses. The hand-tefillin, or shel yad, is worn by Jews wrapped around the arm, hand and fingers, while the head-tefillin, or shel rosh, is placed above the forehead....
     strap from the outside of the arm (anti-clockwise, for a right-handed person). The form of the knot and of the wrappings round the hand is also different from that of the Ashkenazim.
  • Mezuzot
    Mezuzah

    A mezuzah is a piece of parchment inscribed with specified Hebrew language verses from the Torah . These verses comprise the Jewish prayer "Shema", beginning with the phrase: "Listen, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One."...
     are placed vertically rather than slanting, except among Spanish and Portuguese Jews
    Spanish and Portuguese Jews

    Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Judaism communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on....
     in western countries.
  • In the tzitzit
    Tzitzit

    Tzitzit or tzitzis are "fringes" or "tassels" worn by observant Jews on the corners of four-cornered garments, including the tallit ....
    , each winding loops through the preceding one, and the pattern of windings between the knots is either 10-5-6-5 (in some communities, L) or 7-8-11-13 (in others, per Shulhan Aruch).
  • The script used in Torah scrolls, tefillin and mezuzot is different from the Ashkenazic and nearer to the printed square characters.
  • In many of the prayers, they preserve Mishnaic
    Mishnaic Hebrew language

    The term Mishnaic Hebrew refers to the Hebrew dialects found in the Talmud, excepting quotations from the Hebrew Bible. The dialects can be further sub-divided into Mishnaic Hebrew , which was a spoken language, and Amoraic Hebrew , which was a literary language....
     patterns of vocalization and have not altered them to conform with the rules of Biblical Hebrew
    Biblical Hebrew language

    Biblical Hebrew, also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew languages in which the Hebrew Bible and various Israelites inscriptions were written....
    : examples are "nakdishach" (not "nakdishcha") and "ha-gefen" (not "ha-gafen").
  • The second blessing before the Shema begins "Ahavat olam" (and not "Ahavah rabbah") in all services.
  • In the summer months they use the words morid ha-?tal in the second blessing of the Amidah
    Amidah

    The Amidah , also called the Shmona Esre , is the central prayer of the Siddur. As Judaism's prayer par excellence, the Amidah is often designated simply as tfila in Rabbinic literature....
    . B
  • The kedushah of the morning service begins "nakdishach ve-na'aritzach", and the kedushah of musaf
    Jewish services

    Jewish services are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
     (the additional service for Shabbat
    Shabbat

    Shabbat or Shabbos , is the weekly day of rest in Judaism, symbolizing the seventh day in Genesis, after the six days of creation. Though it is commonly said to be the Saturday of each week, it is observed from sundown on Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night....
     and festivals) begins "keter yitenu lach".
  • There are separate summer and winter forms for the "Birkat ha-Shanim".
  • There is no Birkat ha-Kohanim
    Priestly Blessing

    The Priestly Blessing, , also known in Hebrew as Nesiat Kapayim, , is a Judaism prayer recited by Kohanim during certain Jewish services....
     or Barechenu in minhah
    Jewish services

    Jewish services are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
     (the afternoon service) on any day except Yom Kippur
    Yom Kippur

    Yom Kippur , also known in English as the Day of Atonement, is the most solemn and important of the Jewish holidays. Its central themes are Atonement in Judaism and Repentance in Judaism....
     (Ashkenazim also say it on the afternoons of fast days). P
  • The last blessing of the Amidah
    Amidah

    The Amidah , also called the Shmona Esre , is the central prayer of the Siddur. As Judaism's prayer par excellence, the Amidah is often designated simply as tfila in Rabbinic literature....
     is "Sim shalom" (and not "Shalom rav") in all services.
  • They are permitted to sit for Kaddish
    Kaddish

    Kaddish refers to an important and central prayer in the Jewish Jewish services. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of Names of God in Judaism's name....
    .
  • Adon Olam
    Adon Olam

    Adon Olam is one of the few strictly metrical hymns in the Jewish liturgy, the nobility of the diction of which and the smoothness of whose versification have given it unusual importance....
     has an extra stanza (and is longer still in Oriental communities).
  • In many communities (mostly Mizrahi
    Mizrahi Jews

    Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahim, , also referred to as Adot HaMizrach are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
     rather than Sephardi proper) the Torah scroll is kept in a tiq (wooden or metal case) instead of a velvet mantle.
  • They lift the Torah scroll and display it to the congregation before the Torah reading rather than after. B
  • Most Sephardim regard it as permissible to eat rice or beans
    Kitniyot

    Kitniyot, qit'niyyoth are a category of foods defined by Halakha which Ashkenazi Jews refrain from eating during the Bible festival of Passover....
     on Passover.
  • Sephardim only say blessings over the first and third cups of Passover wine, instead of over all four.
  • The items on the Seder plate
    Passover Seder Plate

    The Passover Seder Plate Hebrew language: ke'ara is a special plate containing symbolic foods used by Jews during the Passover Seder. Each of the six items arranged on the plate has special significance to the retelling of the story of the exodus from Ancient Egypt, which is the focus of this ritual meal....
     are arranged in a fixed hexagonal order (except among Spanish and Portuguese Jews
    Spanish and Portuguese Jews

    Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Judaism communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on....
    : this usage is increasingly popular among Ashkenazim). L
  • Seli?hot
    Selichot

    Selichot are Judaism penitential poems and prayers, especially those said in the period leading up to the High Holidays, and on Fast Days. The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy are a central theme throughout the prayers....
     are said throughout the month of Elul.
  • Sephardic Rishonim
    Rishonim

    "Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion.Rishonim were the leading Rabbis and Posek who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and following the Geonim....
     (medieval scholars) reject the customs of Tashlich and Kapparot, though they were re-introduced by the Lurianic
    Isaac Luria

    Rabbi Isaac Luria was a Judaism mystic in Safed. His name today is attached to all of the mystic thought in the town of Safed in 16th century Ottoman Palestine....
     school (Spanish and Portuguese Jews still do not observe them).
  • Only one set of Hanukkah
    Hanukkah

    File:PikiWiki Israel 146 Hanukka ?????.JpgHanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE....
     lights is lit in each household.
  • The shammash is lit together with the other Hanukkah
    Hanukkah

    File:PikiWiki Israel 146 Hanukka ?????.JpgHanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE....
     lights, instead of being used to light them (which would be impractical, given that the lights are traditionally oil lamps rather than candles).
  • The laws of shechita
    Shechita

    Shechita is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Kashrut. The act is performed by cutting the animal's throat by drawing a very sharp knife horizontally across it and allowing the Exsanguination....
    h are in some respects stricter and in other respects less strict than those of Ashkenazim (modern kashrut
    Kashrut

    Kashrut refers to Judaism Taboo food and drink. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English language, from the Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation of the Hebrew language term kash?r , meaning "fit" ....
     authorities try to ensure that all meat complies with both standards).
  • Many Sephardim avoid eating fish with milk, as in Eastern Mediterranean countries this is widely considered to be unhealthy (by non-Jews as well as Jews). Ashkenazim argue that this practice originated from a misprint in the Shulchan Aruch, and that Caro's intention was to forbid the eating of fish with meat.


Leading Sephardi rabbis


"Proto-Sephardim"

(Geonim
Geonim

Geonim were the presidents of the two great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia of Sura and Pumbedita, in Babylonia, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority over the Jews in Islamic lands....
/Rishonim
Rishonim

"Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion.Rishonim were the leading Rabbis and Posek who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and following the Geonim....
 from the Near East or North Africa accepted as authorities by Sephardim)
  • Saadia Gaon
    Saadia Gaon

    Rabbi Se`adiah ben Yosef Gaon , , was a prominent rabbi, Jew philosopher, and exegete of the Geonim period.He is known for his works on Hebrew language, Halakha, and Jewish philosophy....
  • Hananel ben Hushiel
    Chananel Ben Chushiel

    Chananel ben Chushiel or Hananel ben Hushiel was a Rabbi, talmudist and a student of one of the last Geonim. He is best known for his commentary on the Talmud....
  • Nissim Gaon
    Nissim Ben Jacob

    Nissim Ben Jacob was a rabbi and Talmudist best known today for his Talmudic commentary "HaMafteach", by which title he is also known....


Islamic Spain

  • Isaac Alfasi
    Isaac Alfasi

    Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi - also Isaac HaCohen, Alfasi or the Rif - was a Talmudist and posek . He is best known for his work of halakha, the legal code Sefer Ha-halachot, considered the first fundamental work in Halakha#Codes of Jewish law....
  • Joseph ibn Migash
    Joseph ibn Migash

    Joseph ben Meir ibn Migash or Migas was a Rabbi, Posek, and Rosh Yeshiva in Lucena. He is also known as Ri Migash , the Hebrew language acronym for "Rabbi Joseph Migash"....
  • Judah al-Bargeloni
    Judah ben Barzillai

    Judah ben Barzillai was a Jews of Spain Talmudist of the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century. Almost nothing is known of his life....
  • Solomon ibn Gabirol
    Solomon ibn Gabirol

    Solomon ibn Gabirol, also Solomon ben Judah was an al-Andalus Hebrew poet and Jewish philosopher. He was born in M?laga about 1021; died about 1058 in Valencia ....
  • Abraham ibn Ezra
    Abraham ibn Ezra

    Rabbi Abraham ben Meir ibn Ezra was born in Tudela, Islamic Spain, and died c. 1164 .. .He was one of the most distinguished Jewish men of letters and writers of the Middle Ages....
  • Moses ibn Ezra
    Moses ibn Ezra

    Rabbi Moses ben Jacob ibn Ezra, known as ha-Sallah was a Jewish, Spanish philosopher, linguist, and poet. He was born at Granada about 1055 – 1060, and died after 1138....
  • Judah ha-Levi
    Yehuda Halevi

    Judah Halevi, in full Judah ben Shemuel Ha-Levi, also Yehuda Halevi, or Yehuda ben Samuel Halevi was a Sephardic philosopher and poet....
  • Bahya ibn Paquda
    Bahya ibn Paquda

    Bahya ben Joseph ibn Paquda was a Jewish philosopher and rabbi who lived at Saragossa, Spain, in the first half of the eleventh century. He is often referred to as Rabbeinu Bachya....
  • Maimonides
    Maimonides

    Moses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Maimon , the Rambam, and Musa ibn Maymun , was born in C?rdoba, Spain, Spain on March 30, 1135, and died in Egypt on December 13, 1204.....


Christian Spain

  • Nahmanides
    Nahmanides

    Nahmanides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Nachman , was a Catalonia rabbi, philosophy, physician, Kabbalah, and Jewish commentaries on the Bible....
  • Solomon ben Adret
    Shlomo ben Aderet

    Shlomo ben Aderet was a Medieval rabbi, Halakha, and Talmudist. He is widely known as the Rashba , the Hebrew acronym of his title and name: Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet....
  • Yom Tov of Seville
    Yom Tov Asevilli

    Yom Tov Asevilli or Yom Tov ben Avraham Asevilli , , who is commonly known to scholars of Judaism as the Ritva , was a medieval rabbi and Halakha famous for his commentary on the Talmud....
     (the Ritva)
  • Nissim of Gerona
    Nissim of Gerona

    Rabbi Nissim ben Reuven of Girona, Catalonia was an influential talmudist and authority on Halakha . He was one of the last of the great Spanish medieval talmudic scholars....
  • Asher ben Jehiel
    Asher ben Jehiel

    Asher ben Jehiel was an eminent rabbi and Talmudist best known for his abstract of Talmudic law. He is often referred to as Rabbenu Asher, ?our Rabbi Asher? or by the Hebrew language acronym for this title, the ROSH ....
     (Ashkenazi by birth, became Chief Rabbi of Toledo)
  • Jacob ben Asher
    Jacob ben Asher

    Rabbi Jacob ben Asher, in Hebrew language Ya'akov ben Asher, was born in Cologne, Germany in about 1269 and died in Toledo, Spain in about 1343....
  • Moses de Leon
    Moses de Leon

    Moses de Le?n , known in Hebrew language as Moshe ben Shem-Tov , was a History of the Jews in Spain rabbi and Kabbalist who is thought of as the composer or redactor of the Zohar....
  • David Abudarham
    David Abudraham

    David ben Josef ben David Abudraham or Abudarham was a Rishonim who lived at Seville, Spain, and who was known for his commentary on the Synagogue liturgy....
  • Isaac Campanton
    Isaac Campanton

    Isaac ben Jacob Campanton was a Spanish rabbi. He lived in the period darkened by the outrages of Ferran Martinez and Vincent Ferrer, when intellectual life and Talmudic erudition were on the decline among the Jews of Spain....
  • Isaac Aboab


After the expulsion

  • David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra
    David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra

    Rabbi David ben Solomon ibn Zimra , also called Radbaz after the initials of his name, Rabbi David iBn Zimra, was an early Acharonim of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries who was a leading posek, rosh yeshiva, chief rabbi, and author of more than 3,000 Responsa#In Judaism as well as several scholarly wo...
  • Jacob Berab
    Jacob Berab

    Jacob Berab, also Jacob Berav, Yaakov Berav, Yaakov Bei Rav, Talmudist and rabbi; born at Maqueda near Toledo, Spain, Spain, in 1474; died at Safed April 3, 1546....
  • Levi ibn Habib
    Levi Ibn Chaviv

    Rabbi Levi Ibn Habib was rabbi of Jerusalem; born at Zamora , Spain, about 1480; died at Jerusalem about 1545.Under Manuel I of Portugal of Portugal, and when about seventeen, he was compelled to submit to baptism, but at the first opportunity fled to Salonica, where he could follow the dictates of his conscience in safety....
  • Joseph Caro
    Yosef Karo

    Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Caro, or Qaro, was author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, which is still authoritative for Orthodox Jewry....
  • Bezalel Ashkenazi
    Bezalel Ashkenazi

    Bezalel Ashkenazi , a rabbi and scholar of the Talmud, lived in the Palestine during the sixteenth century. He is best known as the author of Shittah Mekubetzet, a commentary on the Talmud....
  • Moses ben Jacob Cordovero
    Moses ben Jacob Cordovero

    Moses ben Jacob Cordovero or Moshe Cordevero known by the acronym the Ramak , was one of the most prominent scholars of early modern Judaism's Kabbalah....
  • Isaac Luria
    Isaac Luria

    Rabbi Isaac Luria was a Judaism mystic in Safed. His name today is attached to all of the mystic thought in the town of Safed in 16th century Ottoman Palestine....
  • Hayim Vital
    Hayyim ben Joseph Vital

    Hayyim ben Joseph Vital was a foremost exponent of Kabbalah....
  • Moses Alshech
  • Solomon Nissim Algazi
    Solomon Nissim Algazi

    Solomon Nissim Algazi was rabbi in Smyrna and in Jerusalem in the 17th century. He must not be confused with his grandson and namesake, a rabbi in Egypt in the 18th century....
  • Yaakov Culi
    Yaakov Culi

    Rabbi Yaakov Culi was a Talmudist and Biblical commentator of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries who died in Constantinople on August 9, 1732....
  • Chaim Joseph David Azulai
    Chaim Joseph David Azulai

    Rabbi Chaim Joseph David ben Isaac Zerachia Azulai , commonly known as the Chida , was a rabbinical scholar and a noted bibliophile, who pioneered the history of Jewish religious writings....
  • Hayim Palaggi
    Hayim Palaggi

    Hayim Palaggi or Palache was a Turkey rabbinical author; maternal grandson of Joseph ben Hayyim Hazan, author of Hikre Leb; pupil of Isaac Gategno, author of Bet Yitzhak....


(for rabbis from the Spanish and Portuguese communities
Spanish and Portuguese Jews

Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Judaism communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on....
, see list in separate article)

Recent times (including Mizrahi rabbis accepted by Sephardim)

  • Ben Ish Hai
    Ben Ish Chai

    Yosef Chaim was a leading Hakham , posek on Jewish law and Master Kabbalah. He is best known as author of the work of Halakha Ben Ish Chai , by which title he is also known....
  • Hayim Sofer
    Yaakov Chaim Sofer

    Yaakov Chaim Sofer was an Orthodox Judaism rabbi, Kabbalist, Talmudist and posek . Sofer is author of the work of halakha titled Kaf hachaim, by which title he is also known....
     (the Kaf ha-Hayim)
  • Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel
    Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel

    Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel or Ouziel was the Sephardi chief rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine from 1939 to 1948, and of Israel from 1948 to 1954....
  • Hayim David HaLevi
    Hayim David HaLevi

    Rabbi Hayim David HaLevi , also written Haim David ha-Levi, etc. ,was Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-Jaffa. He was born in Jerusalem and studied under Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel at the Porat Yosef Yeshiva....
  • Ovadia Yosef
    Ovadia Yosef

    Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is a Sephardi Jews Haredi Judaism rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and recognized halakha authority. He is the former Sephardi Jews Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the current spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli Knesset....


Bibliography


Rabbinic works


Halachah
  • Abudarham, David
    David Abudraham

    David ben Josef ben David Abudraham or Abudarham was a Rishonim who lived at Seville, Spain, and who was known for his commentary on the Synagogue liturgy....
    , Sefer Abudarham
  • Caro, Joseph
    Yosef Karo

    Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Caro, or Qaro, was author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, which is still authoritative for Orthodox Jewry....
    , Shul?han Aruch
    Shulchan Aruch

    The Shulchan Aruch is a codification, or written manual, of halacha , composed by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the 16th century. Together with its commentaries, it is considered the most authoritative compilation of halakha since the Talmud....
     (innumerable editions)
  • ?Hayim, Joseph
    Ben Ish Chai

    Yosef Chaim was a leading Hakham , posek on Jewish law and Master Kabbalah. He is best known as author of the work of Halakha Ben Ish Chai , by which title he is also known....
    , Ben Ish ?Hai, tr. Hiley (4 vols.): Jerusalem 1993 ISBN 1-58330-160-7
  • Sofer, ?Hayim
    Yaakov Chaim Sofer

    Yaakov Chaim Sofer was an Orthodox Judaism rabbi, Kabbalist, Talmudist and posek . Sofer is author of the work of halakha titled Kaf hachaim, by which title he is also known....
    , Kaf ha-?Hayim
  • Raka?h, Yaakob, Shul?han Lehem ha-Panim (6 vols., ed. Levi Nahum), Jerusalem
  • Jacobson, B. S., Netiv Binah: Tel Aviv 1968
  • Toledano, Pinchas, Fountain of Blessings: London 1989
  • Toledano, E., and Choueka, S., Gateway to Halachah (2 vols.): Lakewood and New York 1988-9. ISBN 0-935063-56-0
  • Yitzhak, Hertzel Hillel, Tzel HeHarim: Tzitzit: New York, Feldheim Publishers 2006. ISBN 1-58330-292-1
  • HaLevi, ?Hayim David
    Hayim David HaLevi

    Rabbi Hayim David HaLevi , also written Haim David ha-Levi, etc. ,was Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-Jaffa. He was born in Jerusalem and studied under Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel at the Porat Yosef Yeshiva....
    , Mekor ?Hayim haShalem, a comprehensive code of Jewish law
    • Kitzur Shul?han Arukh Mekor ?Hayim, a digest of the above code
  • Yosef, Ovadia
    Ovadia Yosef

    Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is a Sephardi Jews Haredi Judaism rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and recognized halakha authority. He is the former Sephardi Jews Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the current spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli Knesset....
    , ?Hazon Obadiah, Yabbia Omer and Ye?havveh Da'at, responsa
    Responsa

    Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them....
  • Yosef, Yitz?hak, Yalkut Yosef
    Yalkut Yosef

    Yalkut Yosef is an authoritative, contemporary work of Halakha, providing a detailed explanation of the Shulchan Aruch as based on the posek of the former Chief_rabbi#Sephardi_2 Rav Ovadia Yosef....
    , codifying rulings of Ovadia Yosef
  • Yosef, David, Torat Ha-Moadim (rules about the Jewish holiday
    Jewish holiday

    A Jewish holiday or festival is a day or series of days observed by Jews as a holy or secular commemoration of an important event in Jewish history....
    s)
  • Yosef, David, Halachah Berurah, another codification of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's rulings


Kabbalah
  • Vital, ?Hayim, Sha'ar ha-Kavvanot (vol. 8 of the 15 volume collected writings)
  • anon., ?Hemdat Yamim
  • Algazi, Yisrael, Shalme Tsibbur and Shalme Hagigah


Local customs
  • Mueller, J., ?Hilluf Minhagim she-bein Benei Bavel u-Venei Eretz Yisrael: 1878
  • Lewin, B. M., Otzar ?Hilluf Minhagim: Thesaurus of Halachic Differences between the Palestinian and Babylonian Schools: Jerusalem 1942
  • Gaguine, Shem Tob
    Shem Tob Gaguine

    Shem Tob Gaguine was a British Sephardic Rabbi. Scion of a famous History of the Jews in Morocco Rabbinical dynasty.He had an early posting as rabbi of the Sephardi Jews community in Manchester....
    , Keter Shem Tob, 7 vols. (Spanish and Portuguese and comparative)
  • Ben Ya'akov, Abraham, Minhage Yahadut Bavel ba-dorot ha-a?haronim (Iraq)
  • Ades, Abraham, Derech Ere"tz: Bene Berak 1990 (Aleppo)
  • Ben Shimon, Refael Aharon, Nehar Mitzrayim (Egypt)
  • Hacohen, Mosheh, Berit Kehunah (Jerba)
  • Messas, Yosef, Mayim ?Hayim (Morocco)
  • Toledano, Shelomo, Divre Shalom ve-Emet: Piske Hachme Marocco (Morocco)
  • Bitton, Eliyahu, Netivot ha-Ma'arav (Morocco)


Prayer books


Early rites
  • Seder Rab Amram Gaon
    Amram Gaon

    Amram Gaon was a famous Geonim or head of the Jewish Talmud Talmudic Academies in Babylonia of Sura in the 9th century. He was the author of many Responsa, but his chief work was liturgy....
    , ed. Hedegard: Lund 1951
  • Seder Rab Amram Gaon, ed. Goldschmidt: Jerusalem 1971
  • Seder Rab Amram Gaon, ed. Kronholm: Lund 1974
  • Seder Rab Amram Gaon, ed. Harfenes: Bene Berak 1994
  • Seder Saadia Gaon
    Siddur of Saadia Gaon

    The Siddur of Saadia Gaon is the earliest surviving attempt to transcribe the weekly ritual of Judaism prayers for week-days, Sabbaths, and festivals ....
    , ed. Davidson, Assaf and Joel: Jerusalem 1963
  • Davidson, Ma?hzor Yannai: A Liturgical Work of the VIIth Century: New York, Jewish Theological Seminary 1919
  • Siddur Rabbenu Shelomoh ben Natan, ed. Haggai: Jerusalem 1995
  • Maimonides
    Maimonides

    Moses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moses ben Maimon , the Rambam, and Musa ibn Maymun , was born in C?rdoba, Spain, Spain on March 30, 1135, and died in Egypt on December 13, 1204.....
    ' order of prayer, contained in Goldschmidt, Me?hkare Tefillah u-Fiyyut (On Jewish Liturgy): Jerusalem 1978


Kabbalistic prayer books
  • Siddur ha-Rasha"sh (many editions, sets out meditations of Shalom Sharabi
    Shalom Sharabi

    Sar Shalom Sharabi , also known as the Rashash, the Shemesh or Ribbi Shalom Mizra?i deyedi`a Sharabi , was a Yemenite Jews Rabbi, Halachist, Chazzan and Kabbalah....
    )
  • Remer, Daniel, Siddur and Sefer Tefillat ?Hayim: Jerusalem 2003 (Hebrew only: reconstructs Lurianic rite from Venice edition of Spanish and Portuguese prayer book and the Sha'ar ha-Kavvanot of ?Hayim Vital
    Hayyim ben Joseph Vital

    Hayyim ben Joseph Vital was a foremost exponent of Kabbalah....
    ; companion volume discusses ?Hasidic
    Hasidic Judaism

    Hasidic Judaism is a type of Orthodox Judaism or Haredi Judaism Orthodox Judaism religious movement. Some refer to Hasidic Judaism as Hasidism, and the adjective chasidic / hasidic applies....
     variants)


Livorno editions
  • Sefer Tefillat Ha?hodesh: Livorno 1844
  • The Bet Obed series, by Judah Ashkenazi:
    • Bet Obed: Livorno 1843 (daily prayers);
    • Bet Menu?hah (Shabbat);
    • Bet Mo'ed (Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot);
    • Bet Din (Rosh Hashanah);
    • Bet Kapparah (Yom Kippur);
  • The Bet El series, by Abraham ?Hamwi:
    • Bet El (seli?hot and morning service): Livorno 1878 (repr. New York 1982)
    • Bet Din (Rosh Hashanah): Livorno 1878 (repr. Jerusalem 1986)
    • Bet ha-Kapporet (Kippur): Livorno 1879
    • Bet Sim?hah (Sukkot): Livorno 1879 (repr. Jerusalem 1970)
    • Bet ha-Be?hirah (Pesa?h): Livorno 1880 (repr. Jerusalem 1985)
  • Zechor le-Abraham: Livorno 1926 (days of awe only)
    • reprint: Shiloh Publishing, 3 volumes, Rosh Hashanah, Kippur and Shalosh Regalim, date uncertain (reprinted from Livorno plates by Aharon Barznoi, Tel Aviv)


(The Od Abinu ?Hai series, mentioned under "North African Jews
Sephardic Judaism

Sephardic Judaism is the practice of Judaism as observed by the Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews, so far as it is peculiar to themselves and not shared with other Jewish groups such as the Ashkenazi Jews....
" below, is based on these editions.)

Vienna editions

  • Seder Tefillah mi-kol ha-shanah ke-minhag K"K Sefardim: Harrasansky 1811; Schmid 1820, 1838
  • Ma?hzor ke-minhag K"K Sefardim: Schmid 1820-1837
  • Seder Tefillah ke-minhag K"K Sefardim: Schmid 1821-1849; Bendiner 1862; Schlesinger 1868-1938
  • Siddur Va-ani Tefillah: Schlesinger 1863-1910
  • Seder Tefillat ha-?Hodesh: Netter 1863; Schlesinger 1873-1934
  • Bet Tefillah Yikkare: Schlesinger 1876-1936
  • Seder Tefillat Kol Peh: Schlesinger 1879, 1891 (with Ladino
    Ladino

    Ladino may refer to:*Ladino - Sephardic language, the Judaeo-Spanish primarily spoken among Sephardic Jews, or for the written form used in religious texts and translations...
     translation)


Spanish and Portuguese Jews
Spanish and Portuguese Jews

Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Judaism communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on....
(for fuller list see Spanish and Portuguese Jewish prayer books
Spanish and Portuguese Jews

Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Judaism communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on....
)
  • Venice edition, 1524: reproduced in photostat in Remer, Siddur and Sefer Tefillat ?Hayim, above (text reflects some Italian
    Italian Jews

    Italian Jews can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in Italy or in a narrower sense to mean the ancient community who use the Italian rite, as distinct from newer arrivals who use the Sephardi or Ashkenazi rite....
     influence, not transmitted in full to modern orders of service)
  • Tefillat Kol Peh, ed. and tr. Ricardo: Amsterdam 1928, repr. 1950
  • Book of Prayer of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews’ Congregation, London (5 vols.): Oxford (Oxford University Press, Vivian Ridler
    Vivian Ridler

    Vivian Ridler, Order of the British Empire was born in Cardiff and worked as Printer to the University at Oxford University Press from 1958 to 1978....
    ), 5725 - 1965 (Hebrew and English; since reprinted)
  • Book of Prayer: According to the Custom of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, David de Sola Pool
    David de Sola Pool

    David de Sola Pool was an United States Rabbi....
    : New York, Union of Sephardic Congregations, 1979 (Hebrew and English)


Balkan, Greek and Turkish Sephardim
  • Siddur Zehut Yosef (Daily and Shabbat) According to the Rhodes and Turkish Traditions, ed. Azose: Seattle, Sephardic Traditions Foundation 2002 (Hebrew and English; some Ladino
    Ladino

    Ladino may refer to:*Ladino - Sephardic language, the Judaeo-Spanish primarily spoken among Sephardic Jews, or for the written form used in religious texts and translations...
    )
  • Mahzor Zihron Rahel (Shalosh Regalim: Pesah, Shavuot and Sukkot) According to the Rhodes and Turkish Traditions, ed. Azose: Seattle, Sephardic Traditions Foundation 2007 (Hebrew and English; some Ladino
    Ladino

    Ladino may refer to:*Ladino - Sephardic language, the Judaeo-Spanish primarily spoken among Sephardic Jews, or for the written form used in religious texts and translations...
    )


(see also under Vienna editions)

Baghdadi ("Edot ha-Mizraḥ")
  • Tefillat Yesharim: Jerusalem, Man?sur (Hebrew only)
  • Siddur Od Yosef ?Hai
  • Kol Eliyahu, ed. Mordechai Eliyahu
    Mordechai Eliyahu

    Mordechai Eliyahu is a former Sephardi Jews Chief Rabbi of Israel....
(and many others)

North African Jews
  • Siddur Od Abinu ?Hai ed. Levi Nahum: Jerusalem (Hebrew only, Livorno text, Libyan tradition)
  • Mahzor Od Abinu ?Hai ed. Levi Nahum (5 vols.): Jerusalem (Hebrew only, Livorno text, Libyan tradition)
  • Siddur Vezara?h Hashemesh, ed. Messas
    Chalom Messas

    Chalom Messas, , was the Chief Rabbi of Morocco, and after making aliyah became the Sephardi Jews Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. He wrote many works: Mizrah Chemech, Tevouot Chemech, Chemech Oumaguen, Beit Chemech and Veham Hachemech....
    : Jerusalem (Hebrew only, Meknes tradition)
  • Siddur Ish Matzlia?h, ed. Mazuz, Machon ha-Rav Matzliah : B'nei Brak (Hebrew only, Jerba tradition)
  • Siddur Far?hi (Hebrew with Arabic translation, Egypt)
  • Siddur Tefillat ha-Hodesh, ed. David Levi, Erez : Jerusalem (Hebrew only, Livorno text, Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian traditions)
  • Siddur Patah Eliyahou, ed. Joseph Charbit, Colbo : Paris (Hebrew and French, Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian traditions)
  • Mahzor Zechor le-Avraham, Yarid ha-Sefarim : Jerusalem (Based on the original Zechor le-Abraham: Livorno 1926, Hebrew only, Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian traditions, days of awe only)


Syrian Jews
Syrian Jews

Syrian Jews derive their origin from two groups: those who inhabited the region of today's Syria from the History of Ancient Israel and Judah and those Sephardim who fled to Syria after the Alhambra decree ....
  • Seder Olat Tamid (min?hah and arbit only): Aleppo 1907
  • Olat ha-Sha?har: Aleppo 1915
  • Bet Yosef ve-Ohel Abraham: Jerusalem, Man?sur (Hebrew only, based on Baghdadi text)
  • Ma?hzor Shelom Yerushalayim, ed. Albeg: New York, Sephardic Heritage Foundation 1982
  • Siddur Kol Mordechai, ed. Faham bros: Jerusalem 1984 (minhah and arbit only)
  • Kol Yaakob: New York, Sephardic Heritage Foundation 1990 (Hebrew); reprinted 1996 (Hebrew and English)
  • The Aram Soba Siddur: According to the Sephardic Custom of Aleppo Syria, Moshe Antebi: Jerusalem, Aram Soba Foundation 1993 (contains min?hah and arbit only)
  • Or?hot ?Hayim, ed. Yedid: Jerusalem 1995 (Hebrew only)
  • Orot Sephardic Siddur, Eliezer Toledano: Lakewood, NJ, Orot Inc. (Hebrew and English: Baghdadi text, Syrian variants shown in square brackets)
  • Siddur Abodat Haleb / Prayers from the Heart, Moshe Antebi, Lakewood, NJ: Israel Book Shop, 2002
  • Abir Yaakob, ed. Haber: Sephardic Press (Hebrew and English, Shabbat only)
  • Siddur Ve-ha'arev Na, ed. Isaac S.D. Sassoon
    Isaac S.D. Sassoon

    Isaac S.D. Sassoon is a Sephardic Orthodox rabbi and educator. Hakham Sassoon was born into the Sassoon family of London. His initial education was under the tutelage of his father, the renowned scholar Rabbi Solomon David Sassoon, Hakham Yosef Doury, and others....
    , 2007


Israeli (Ovadia Yosef)
  • Ohr V’Derech Sephardic Siddur
  • Siddur Ye?havveh Daat
  • Siddur Avodat Ha-shem
  • Siddur ?Hazon Ovadia
  • Ma?hzor ?Hazon Ovadia


Secondary literature

  • Zimmels, Ashkenazim and Sephardim: their Relations, Differences, and Problems As Reflected in the Rabbinical Responsa : London 1958 (since reprinted). ISBN 0-88125-491-6
  • Goldschmidt, Me?hkare Tefillah u-Fiyyut (On Jewish Liturgy): Jerusalem 1978
  • Wieder, Naphtali, The Formation of Jewish Liturgy: In the East and the West
  • Dobrinsky, Herbert C., A treasury of Sephardic laws and customs : the ritual practices of Syrian, Moroccan, Judeo-Spanish and Spanish and Portuguese Jews of North America. Revised ed. Hoboken, N.J.: KTAV; New York, N.Y.: Yeshiva Univ. Press, 1988. ISBN 0-88125-031-7
  • Angel, Marc D.
    Marc D. Angel

    Marc D. Angel is Rabbi emeritus of Congregation Shearith Israel, the historic Spanish and Portuguese Jews Synagogue in New York City.Born in Seattle's Sephardi Jews community, his ancestors are Sephardim from Turkey and Rhodes and he grew up speaking Judeo-Spanish at home....
    , Voices in Exile: A Study in Sephardic Intellectual History: New York 1991
  • Reif, Stefan, Judaism and Hebrew Prayer: Cambridge 1993. Hardback ISBN-13: 9780521440875, ISBN-10: 0521440874; Paperback ISBN-13: 9780521483414, ISBN-10: 0521483417
  • Reif, Stefan, Problems with Prayers: Berlin and New York 2006 ISBN-13: 978-3-11-019091-5, ISBN-10: 3-11-019091-5


Endnotes


See also

  • Sephardim
  • Mizrahi Jews
    Mizrahi Jews

    Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahim, , also referred to as Adot HaMizrach are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
  • Spanish and Portuguese Jews
    Spanish and Portuguese Jews

    Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Judaism communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on....
  • Siddur
    Siddur

    A siddur is a Judaism prayer book, containing a set order of List of Jewish prayers and blessings. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as we know it today has developed....
  • Jewish services
    Jewish services

    Jewish services are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
  • Halachah
    Halakha

    Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
  • Minhag
    Minhag

    Minhag is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, Nusach , refers to the traditional order and form of the Jewish services....
  • Nusach
    Nusach

    Nusach is a concept in Judaism that has two distinct meanings. One is the style of a prayer service ; another is the melody of the service depending on when the service is being conducted....


External links